Research

by Bethany Maines

Recently, I was working on a bit of research for a novel and was forced to reach up into my library of reference books… OK, let’s just pause and admit that’s how old I am.  I have reference books.  When I wrote my first novel, Bulletproof Mascara, my heroine was a linguist, a subject about which I knew very little, and one of my plot points actually hinged on her being familiar with a Latin phrase.  So as I result I ended up purchasing a book on Latin and several on linguistics.  But shortly after that book was published (all the way back 2011) the world changed.

Articles on linguistics and Latin are now readily available (and reliably accurate) online.  Heck, everything is available online.  And nothing has driven that point home more firmly than the book I’m currently working on—a paranormal romance with heavy Indiana Jones/The Mummy vibes. Once more I’m looking up Latin phrases and trying to remember everything I knew about about German menhir.  It used to be that I’d be trotting over to my friends and family and asking to see their Germany photo albums.  Now I just hit YouTube and there is Marburg Castle and I can see the color of the stone and check out the artwork without having to leave my computer.

There is nothing like actually visiting place to provide accurate detail, but it can’t be denied that life has gotten easier in the research department.  Which is why I was amused at my own grumpiness at having to actually rise from my seat, walk all the way over to the bookcase and pull down the book on Latin.  Oh, the horror!  The absolute drain of life force from having to flip pages.  How dare the internet fail me?!

Don’t be distressed.  I have recovered.  I managed to make up some absolute nonsense to counterbalance the actual facts I included regarding Egyptian canopic jars and German history and was thus soothed.  But remind me not to write anything close to historical fiction. I would probably have a historically accurate fit of the vapors if I had to have an entire book full of research.

You can check out my paranormal romances from the same world here: bethanymaines.com/supernaturals/

Or my upcoming magic free Romantic Suspense here: bethanymaines.com/the-deveraux-legacy/

The Fallen ManBook 4 of the Deveraux Legacy Series – releases October 18 – PREORDER: https://books2read.com/FallenMan

The Deveraux Family: wealthy, glamorous, powerful… and in a lot of trouble. Senator Eleanor Deveraux lost her children in a plane crash, but she has a second chance to get her family right with her four grandchildren – Evan, Jackson, Aiden and Dominique. But second chances are hard to seize when politics, mercenaries, and the dark legacy of the Deveraux family keep getting in the way.

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Bethany Maines is the award-winning author of the Carrie Mae Mysteries, San Juan Islands Mysteries, Shark Santoyo Crime Series, and numerous short stories. When she’s not traveling to exotic lands, or kicking some serious butt with her black belt in karate, she can be found chasing her daughter or glued to the computer working on her next novel. You can also catch up with her on TwitterFacebookInstagram, and BookBub.

 

5 replies
  1. Kathryn Lane
    Kathryn Lane says:

    I know the feeling, yet once I’m up, I move the old bode around to circulate the blood. But then you’re a lot younger than I am! I look forward to finding how you used the canopic jars after the novel is published.

  2. T.K. Thorne
    T.K. Thorne says:

    Lol, Bethany. For real! I remember walking into a library with the task of trying to determine if sheep were raised in 5500 BCE in ancient Turkey. [Noah’s Wife] Yikes! What do you look under? Found it on the Internet in 5 minutes. Nevertheless, the whole process of writing a historical novel in that time took four years. //I also remember before TVs had remote controls, you had to—gasp—get up and walk to the set to change the channel (you had three choices)!

  3. Gay Yellen
    Gay Yellen says:

    Roget’s, LaRousse, and a three-volume English dictionary. Not sure I’ll ever toss out those heavy tomes. The worst part is how much space they take on the shelf, and the danger of a conk on the head when I pull one out. Nice post, Bethany.

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